The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has kicked off for 2023, bringing together those that work in creative communications and advertising from every corner of the planet.
Mediaweek is on location in the South of France, chatting to some of the most influential people in both Australian and global media. Today is Ed Pank, managing director of WARC Asia-Pacific
WARC in Cannes
As the sister brand to Cannes Lions, WARC has what Pank calls “a very symbiotic” relationship with the festival. It’s not just this relationship that brings the brand to Cannes, however, with the team making the trip to France to “lean into the effectiveness agenda.”
“This year, we’re co-creating the Creative Impact track, which runs all the way through the week, and that’s really looking at the impact that creativity has,” says Pank.
“The whole marketing ecosystem is more complicated than it’s ever been – there are more channels, more proliferation, more fragmentation, more choices for marketers. How do you make sense of all of that? How do marketers lean into TikTok and come up with effective strategies in that regard? And so on and so forth.
See Also: Brett Armstrong: How creativity on TikTok is “driving the success of commerce” on the app
“We’re just really leaning into what commercial impact creativity can have, trying to understand that and link it back to the business. That’s why we’re here. I think it’s great in the recessionary climate that we’re all feeling to have a celebration of the industry and what the industry is about.”
Although the festival has just begun, Pank says there is a significant trend that he’s noticed people talking about on the ground.
“A lot of people are talking about AI – a lot of people are talking about AI the world over, and some people are very scared about it.”
Despite the trepidation some may have over where the future of Artificial Intelligence is heading, Pank isn’t too worried just yet.
“I personally think we’ve just got to wait and see what AI can do. I have my doubts that AI can replace EI, or emotional intelligence, and the ability to develop deep, compelling emotional insights that drive connections between brands and their audiences. Those are based on irrational factors, you can’t necessarily process them in a binary way.
“I’m a brand guy, I’m a data guy, and WARC is all about data and evidence to back up decisions. But I also passionately believe in brands and their ability to connect with audiences – the way that brands are built is scientific, but there’s no formula to it. I think the overriding factor is that generating human insights to connect with people requires understanding at an emotional level. Maybe AI in the future will be able to do that, but I have my doubts at the moment.”
Efficiency v Effectiveness
Pank says that no matter where in the world they’re working, the team at WARC are on one simple mission.
“We say our mission is to save the world from ineffective marketing by creating evidence to back up key decisions around strategy and spend. We do that through access to great case studies and data points from different data sets, which really gives marketers confidence that they’re making the right decision.
“If you’re sitting across the table, and you’re signing off on a $5 million campaign across a new suite of channels with a new approach to an audience, you need confidence that it’s going to work. Intuition is a great thing, but I know if I was sitting across that table, I would want a few data points to give me confidence that I’m going in the right direction.”
The main drivers of this mission are efficiency and effectiveness, and whilst the two may seem very similar on the surface, Pank says that there is a key difference between the two when it comes to enhancing a business.
“Efficiency is one part of effectiveness. Efficiency is typically measured in ROI – and that’s a good thing, you can manipulate ROI very quickly by turning off your spend, that’ll increase your ROI. Whereas effectiveness is measured in absolute terms. It’s about understanding the impact that a particular investment will have on your business.
“One analogy I like is a car. Efficiency is the engine, and how efficiently that makes the car run, whereas the car overall is the analogy for effectiveness. It gets you a family from A to B safely and in comfort, meeting a whole set of objectives that you have for that particular journey, as opposed to just fuel efficiency. It’s the bigger piece, a more holistic picture measured in absolute terms rather than just ROI.”
Ed Pank
WARC Down Under
When asked how Australia as a market stacks up when it comes to being effective, Pank says that he has “always admired Australia.”
“Australia has always done some fantastic work. It’s a little bit isolated, but there are some very smart people down there that really understand strategy, and some great brands that have been built up over time.
“I’ve always liked the work coming out of Australia. It uses humour really well, I think there’s a massive play for humour in this day and age, post-pandemic, the world needs a bit of cheering up.”
In Pank’s view, the only hurdle for the country comes from the fact that it’s so far away from other similar-sized markets.
“I think Australia is a very developed very sophisticated market, and could do sometimes with a bit more competition. It’s a slightly isolated region if you compare to a market like the UK, where there is more competition so people have to work harder for longer to be more successful in their careers. I think Australia suffers from that a little bit, in my personal opinion.”
In the wider APAC region, Pank says that while there are “lots of commonalities” between Australia and the wider Asia Pacific, it’s also not a one size fits all part of the world.
“Australia is a very important market in APAC, but the whole region is very diverse. Whether it’s India, whether it’s China, whether it’s Southeast Asia, or Australia, it all behaves very differently and it’s wrong to think about it as a homogenous region.
“One thing Australia does follow consistently with other Asian markets is it’s a relationship market. You need FaceTime to build businesses and be well-networked there, and that’s a typical characteristic of Asian markets as well. So there’s a commonality there.”
–
Top Image: Ed Pank